Published on June 7, 2009
in DPack.
After long development and testing cycle, the new DPack version 2.9.1 is out. This is a major release with main focus on Solution Browser performance improvements.
There are 3 main Solution Browser areas I concentrated on:
1 - Cache persistence - there is a new Tools|Options dialog, DPack|Solution Browser page options that lets you change solution cache persistence from the default in-memory option to a disk based one. When the disk based persistence’s used, DPack saves solution cache to a file and loads the same file on solution load. Using one of the persistence options should greatly improve performance, especially for large solutions.
2 - Solution caching - due to VS code model being COM based, I had to rework the most time consuming caching logic and move it back on to the main thread, which resulted in great performance improvements. The downside of that is that the initial solution caching and new project added event processing will be accompanied by a modal dialog, forcing you to wait until the caching is complete. This is a small price to pay for improved performance. Special thanks to Eyal Post for his investigative work on this issue.
3 - C++ projects processing - C++ projects processing performance has been significantly improved across the entire set of features and not just Solution Browser.
A few miscellaneous notes:
* DPack’s code base is over 40,000 lines of code now. It seems just yesterday it was about half of that number.
* I ran a survey on dropping VS 2005 support. The survey results show that about half of the participants can part with it. As expected though, the real numbers are much higher and is what confirmed by web site statistics. It clearly shows a steady decline in VS 2005 vs. VS 2008 downloads. So, I’ve decided that VS 2005 will continue to be supported until VS 2010 release, which I think will happen sometime in October-December of 2009 time frame. In other words, once VS 2010 is out, VS 2005 won’t be supported anymore.
* Which finally brings me to VS 2010. As you know, VS 2010 Beta 1 is out. I have taken a quick look at it and it’s basically a moving target at this point. So, I’ve decided to wait until VS 2010 Beta 2 or RC come out before starting on DPack for VS 2010 conversion. Rest assured, VS 2010 support is planned.
And finally, here’s what’s new and fixed in this version:
- Solution Browser supports cache persistence now, which, when enabled and once the initial caching’s done, hould dramatically increase solution processing performance. Cache persistence option can be configured via Tools|Options dialog, DPack|Solution Browser page.
- Improved Solution Browser caching performance. To maintain an acceptable level of performance, the initial caching’s accompanied by a modal progress dialog now. Once the initial caching’s done, consequent updates are processed in the background.
- Added Return column to Code Browser that shows member return type for qualified members such as methods, properties, fields, delegates and events.
- Improved Code Browser Xaml files handling.
- Modified Code Browser to show read-only fields along side of properties when properties only command is invoked.
- Added File Browser feature that allows one to select a file in Windows Explorer without actually opening that file in the editor. One can use Ctrl-Alt-Shift-Enter key combination instead of Enter to engage this feature.
- Added support for Visual Studio ‘Import and Export Settings’. DPack features should show up in export dialog now, allowing you to backup all configured settings to a file, and restore them at a later time.
- Added ‘Close All’ document context menu item.
- Improved all browsers 120 DPI and Large Fonts Windows display setting handling.
- Improved all browsers C++ projects processing performance.
- Upgraded Solution Backup to use Zip library #ziplib version 0.85.4.369.
- Fixed a paste references feature problem with some references not getting processed sometimes.
As always, the new version is available at www.usysware.com/dpack/. Enjoy.
Sergey @ USysWare
We are pleased to announce general availability of new WPrinter version 3.1. This is primarily a maintenance release.
Here is the list of changes in this version:
- Improved support for limited access rights users.
- Online/offline/purge no longer requires administrator rights.
The new version is available at http://www.usysware.com/downloads.aspx. Enjoy.
Published on January 29, 2009
in WPrinter.
Just wanted to mention few things about registering WPrinter 3.1.
If you use Windows Vista with UAC turned on, or if you’re in the corporate environment with limited Windows user privileges, you can find yourself having trouble registering WPrinter. You could receive the following error message attempting to register WPrinter with a valid registration key: “You must have Administrator’s permissions to register WPrinter. Registration failed.”. This is due to WPrinter requiring access to part of Windows registry that’s normally reserved for administrators or power users and is normal behavior, a.k.a. requiring administrator permissions. Registration is the only time when such permissions are needed.
Here’s how you can work around it. Close WPrinter so that it’s no longer shown in the system tray. Find WPrinter installation folder (typically
\USysWare\WPrinter). Right click on WPrinter.exe and select ‘Run as administrator’ menu item. On Vista you’ll be prompted with a UAC dialog. Allow it to run and try registering WPrinter again. Once that’s done, close WPrinter again and re-start it from its installation group to allow it to run with default user permissions. Verify that it’s still registered by checking ‘Help’|'About WPrinter’ menu item. That should take care of the problem.
And as I mentioned before, all features in version 3.1 should function the same exact way compared with version 3.0. The only known issue is that version 3.0 registration information is not compatible with version 3.1. The workaround is very simple: just re-enter your registration information after installing the new version 3.1, keeping in mind the above information regarding registration and administrator permissions.
Hope this helps.
Sergey @ USysWare
Published on January 3, 2009
in WPrinter.
We are pleased to announce general availability of new WPrinter version 3.1. The primary goal of this release is to address some known Windows Vista and Server 2008 compatibility issues, and add native support for 64-bit Windows versions.
While this version introduces no new major features, it marks an important milestone - it is based on Microsoft .NET 2.0. Old WPrinter 3.0 version was not based on .NET.
All features in version 3.1 should function the same exact way compared with version 3.0. The only known issue is that version 3.0 registration information is not compatible with version 3.1. The workaround is very simple: just re-enter your registration information after installing the new version 3.1.
Please note that minimum system requirements for .NET 2.0 start with Windows 2000. Thus, Windows 95, 98, ME and NT 4.0 are no longer supported. You can continue using WPrinter 3.0 if you require compatibility with the above mentioned operating systems. Please use the following link to download .NET 2.0 SP1 runtime.
Here is the short list of new features introduced in WPrinter version 3.1:
- Full Windows Vista support.
- Native 64-bit Windows support.
- Windows Vista UAC and non-administrator improvements.
The new version is available at http://www.usysware.com/downloads.aspx. Enjoy.
Published on November 23, 2008
in WPrinter.
We are pleased to announce availability of another beta of the upcoming WPrinter version 3.1. Here’s what’s been addressed in this version:
- Fixed various 64-bit Windows application issues. Please note that WPrinter runs as a 64-bit process on 64-bit Windows.
- Fixed various installation application issues pertaining to 64-bit Windows.
- Improved non-Administrator user handling.
- Improved Vista UAC handling.
- Fixed a problem with ‘Printing Defaults’ menu item / double-click action and network printers unnecessarily requesting elevated administrator access rights, which resulted in access denied error.
Note that this beta is set to expire on January 5th. Please report any issues you find in this beta back to us.
The new version is available at http://www.usysware.com/downloads.aspx. Enjoy.
Sergey @ USysWare
Published on November 19, 2008
in DPack.
New DPack version 2.8.8 is available now. This is primarily a maintenance release with few small improvements. Here’s what’s new and fixed in this version:
- Added a configuration option to allow for browsers history to be turned on or off.
- Modified Code Browser history to be maintained on per-file bases and cleared when solution’s closed.
- Added Solution Backup “Include (some) references” configuration option. This option allows one to backup referenced assemblies residing anywhere in project’s directory hierarchy.
- Oxygene/Prism language support and installation application improvements.
- Fixed a problem with Code Browser search criteria applied to interface name as oppose to member names only for classes with explicitly implemented interfaces.
As always, the new version is available at www.usysware.com/dpack/. Enjoy.
Sergey @ USysWare
